ChatterboxZombie's Blogs

Well its been a while since ive blogged. My last efforts resulted in the majority of its readers concluding that i was on drugs. (Thanks for that one mates)  As lazy Saturday nights go this is mine. stuck at home, browsing forums and drinking choppy, second-rate imported green tea being the least of matters, there has been a few little changes in my gaming habits as of late.

Im a big Fan of steam. Specifically Team Fortress 2. Popular as it is "from the creators of counter-strike! *Le-Gasp!* " Ive always enjoyed it. Every so often updates for new achievements are released for one of the 9 classes of playable characters. Steam pulled out quite the event however in the end, and produced not one new set of weapons, but two. Accopanied by the fact that it was also a free weekend (where players who havent actually purchased a serial code for the game could play too). This meant not only would there be a sudden spamming of achievement hungry-snipers, but finicky annoying spies to piss them off. (and alot of them were noob players heheh. )

This was kind of a big deal.

The endangered spy crab was in for some trouble.

Now, the previous way of unlocking a classes new weapons were "milestones". A set of number of achievments to obtain before one was cleared and a weapon unlocked (E.g 10, 16, 22). But with the new updates steam had encorporated a new weapons unlock system aswell. Ditching milestones, a "find weapons" system was used. This basically worked as in "Play the game, every now and then it'll tell you you've found a new weapon" sounds good on paper but it resulted in alot of A: people getting duplicates of items, alot infact. And B: many people not finding items at all. The reason they changed it to this was to stop people from farming achievments and getting the weapons really easily. The system was nicknamed in australian servers as "FF system" standing for "Fail find" (Ah, I see what you did there, crafty Aussies).

I remember going on a server for the first time after the update. I charged into battle same as always, only to be suddenly distracted by a sniper with the new primary weapon. Via my mic i spurted some sort of astounded remark like "Zohmigawd! you got the bow and arrow already!? sweet, I friggen want that so bad!" To which that player replied "lol, noob".

I proceeded in killing that player in a later round.

A week had passed and although i had gotten the majority of the Sniper and Spy achievements, i had only recieved one of the 6 new weapons. I was getting a little pissed, i had found 3 sandwiches and only one Spy weapon. This tone continued for a week or so, finding duplicates of old weapons and listening to other players flame steam despite still playing thier game. E.g "This new weapons system sucks!", "When it tells you you got a new weapon wheres the screw you steam button?" and "Luck is not a good way to find new items". But then, on the morning of the second saturday since the updates had been released, i turned on my computer and started up TF2, only to be denied by an update loading window. The reason? "The addition of milestones now gives an alternative way for players to obtain the new Sniper and Spy weapons"

Yep, brought 'em back. Only took them a week hehheh.

The Aussie versus the Frenchie. I wouldn't bet on either.

So with that in mind, I hurried onto the closest populated server. Expecting all my new weapons to be there already (after all, i had enough achievements for all the milestones) but strangely they weren't there. I was confused for about, hmmmmmmm 3 minutes. After i killed someone a flood of anouncements were made, telling me i had just achieved spy milestones 1, 2 and 3 along with thier appropriate weapons, and this continued with players all around me for days to come. Quite a sight to see.

The "Lucky find" weapons system is still in effect with the milestones however. Although most people simply try to get the achievments if they want new weapons, some try their luck and just wait to find them. The core players just hang-on to their duplicates to use in a "player-trade" system that will be integrated into gameplay later on in the year. But people still Appreciate the system for the rare chance of finding a hat. Each class has a new hat to find and equip. being very rare and well, the fact that its a hat, everyone wants one! From the Medics Spiked Krauser helmet to the Egineers mining-helmet and Demos groovy afro, its just one more thing to add status to your gameplay.

You know why they all look so angry? COZ THEY DON'T HAVE ANY OF THE NEW HATS!

Playing the game since the update has been great fun. Although theres alot of controversy over the new weapons the majority of them add variety and fun to the gameplay. The Snipers Bow and Arrow "The Huntsman" has added a new depth of gameplay to the snipers play-style. Aswell as one of his new secondary weapons, "The Jarate".

The Jarate, or fondly known to players as "Jar 'O Piss" is........... A Jar of piss. A somewhat humerous observation of rural Australian culture. In game it can be used for Extinguishing ignited friends, De-cloaking invisible spies, and Splashing enemys to obsceure their vision and exspose them to Mini-crits. (minor critical shots). Who new Urine was so versatile?

(While pondering what the new melee weapon for the sniper would be, my friends and i came up with a joke about stingrays...........yes we're horrible people)

"The Ambassador". The New Spy gun looks totally awesome. Although many players complain of it being over-powered, im not complaning when i can headshot a Sniper from 50 metres away with it.

The new Spy weapons have been a little hit and miss though in my opinion. The two new cloaking devices, one which drops a decoy of your death upon activation and one that recharges via standing still are both present. The latter Being a campers wet dream as Players stand outside enemy spawn, watching secretly and posting suggestive comments like "So thats what your spawn looks like" and "Your back looks good from this angle". Of course, seeing a persons spray pop-up out of nowhere is always a dead giveaway of a spy.

You'd be amazed how often standing next to this as a disguised spy actually saves your ass.

So all in all, my TF2 days continue on. Its nice to see some changes and Steam taking some risks, but its interesting just how much a little refresh of a system can make an entire global online community whine like an annoying teenage girl. *coughboxxycough*. Getting a headshot with a flaming arrow is awesome, and although some matches seem impossible to win with such powerful new weapons in the hands of skilled players.....

All you really need is 6 medics.

(watch to the end for lolz)

Written By ChatterboxZombie